If the wide screen is to be believed, in the days of the great railroad expansion in the USA, there was a tradition that on the completion of a section of track, a golden spike was ceremoniously driven into the last tie. In the Navy there was a legend that every wooden warship had a… Continue reading Royal Navy, The Golden River
Month: November 2010
Royal Navy, Islandands of stimulation in a sea of monotonoy
There is nothing more stimulating than sitting on a button on a warship when it is gathering speed. Button is the term used for the round pancake of wood set on top of the mast to protect the end from the weather. Radar relies on signals received through a special cable which connects the set… Continue reading Royal Navy, Islandands of stimulation in a sea of monotonoy
Royal Navy. Day to day chores
The day came when more of the new breed of craftsmen were sent to the ship to supplement the work normally done by the regulars and to carry out duties which were occasioned by the advent of more and more new technology. For example, at night, E’ Boats were wont to tie up to the… Continue reading Royal Navy. Day to day chores
The day to day chores
The day came when more of the new breed of craftsmen were sent to the ship to supplement the work normally done by the regulars and to carry out duties which were occasioned by the advent of more and more new technology. For example, at night, E’ Boats were wont to tie up to the… Continue reading The day to day chores
The Big Bang, and a view of Edinburgh
The Big Bang I relate this because afterwards I found the incident in a way, rather funny, and contrary to all I had been led to believe about the imperturbability of the Navy in a crisis. We were sitting at lunch in the Chiefs’ and POs’ Mess. The table ran fore and aft of the… Continue reading The Big Bang, and a view of Edinburgh
Royal Navy, The passing out parade
By the time you have read this you will appreciate that there is more than one meaning to ‘passing out’ and the one in a military sense is not intended. We had suffered more than our fair share of bad weather and our convoy duty had not been so much dangerous as stressful as well… Continue reading Royal Navy, The passing out parade
Royal Navy, The charade of ‘Defaulters’
The Charade Of ‘Defaulters’ I believe that the Service was suspended in the aspic of time, almost ever since the days of Nelson – until the war, with the sudden alterations in thought and deed which that emergency and the introduction of civilians forced upon it. In turn the Nelson syndrome was thrust upon us… Continue reading Royal Navy, The charade of ‘Defaulters’
Royal Navy, Fishcake McKay
In the sailor’s induction course we were taught to handle a whaler, a thirty-foot, double-ended, clinker-built life-boat,. We rowed in unison with cries like ‘Give way together’. Our instructions were laced with colourful language by, the Coxswain, or ‘Chief’, and there was swearing in the body of the boat as the blisters began to build.… Continue reading Royal Navy, Fishcake McKay
Royal Navy, Just Fun
It Had To Rear Its Head Sometime. If you have led as sheltered life, in a house full of women, the services will soon change all that. You soon become aware of life as it is lived. My first brush was when we had come in from convoy and repairs had to be carried out… Continue reading Royal Navy, Just Fun
Royal Navy, In praise of a lost art
The making of a ‘Prick’ of tobacco. The ration was supplied in leaf form, as the name implied, with stalks and all, and I intended to turn this mass of dried cabbage into a plug of tobacco, which could challenge any in a tobacconists shop. Just writing that has made me realise there are few… Continue reading Royal Navy, In praise of a lost art